The Story of Our Identity
Maajhi means ‘ferryman’ in Hindi. Many cultures believe that the ferryman takes the soul across.
Death and dying are words that tend to bring a sense of discomfort among many of us. In certain cultures, it is taboo to speak about it, and it is treated as the dark side of our human existence. This is just one of the connotations.
This required us to think about how to introduce Maajhi to people in a caring and inviting way, one that would highlight how we could assist people while still ensuring that it was their journey. In our previous avatar—when we were known as The Maajhi Project—our logo used the elements of a deconstructed boat, and as our narrative evolved, we thought it apt to create a world rather than one object inside that world.
OUR LOGO
From our initial thoughts and discussions, we were inspired by the idea of putting the viewer in charge of their journey, thereby empowering them to engage with loss as navigators. We selected this logo as we felt it best conveyed this concept. The simple lines create a graceful look and articulate the etiquette of personal choice beautifully.
Our brand identity is supported by visuals of directional elements such as compasses and stars that convey the ethereal and iridescent representation of the water and vessel.
The Maajhi Logo
OUR COLOURS
The colour palette evokes the feeling of natural flow, movement, and poised rarity. It represents our universal and foundational journey of loss through life, while also reminding ourselves that each one of us has a unique responsibility towards befriending death with a sense of awareness and care for ourselves and our loved ones.
OUR VISUAL LANGUAGE
The visual language is what makes us recognizably Maajhi. It is defined by a combination of our brand mark, brand colours, typography, image style and graphic devices. It is distinctive so as to have a strong brand recall while being flexible across collateral and easy to execute.
The typography does more than create a message. It gives our brand a distinctive tone of voice. Our visual communication uses Nunito Sans – a well-balanced sans serif typeface designed by Jacques Le Bailly. It is clean, contemporary and elegant. As a Google font, it is easily available and it works well across the internet on different web browsers.
Maajhi hopes to give its collective a place to explore and engage with loss with love, courage, meaning, choice, and empowerment while we are alive.
“As human beings we’re not meant to understand death. It’s actually meant to remain as the iconic representation of the unknown and you’re meant to give yourself over to it freely and with a sense of innocence. Not knowing actually, what the promise might be and even entertaining the understanding that there maybe no promise at all. ”
— DAVID WHYTE
Moksha Carambiah is the mind and soul behind the identity of Maajhi. She is an independent multidisciplinary designer based in Bristol. She has worked with Dyson, the Museum of Art and Photography (MAP), Ray+Keshavan (Brand Union), and on independent projects for a range of clients.
Death literacy is a difficult subject. Designing for it is no less challenging. Moksha’s curiosity, power of observation, sensitivity, attention to detail, along with a seasoned and inspired approach has brought the world of Maajhi to life, even though the subject itself, deals with death.